Oddworld Level Editing - Request for help/tutorials here!

Chubfish · #1 12-27-2010, 02:42 AM

Use this thread from now on to ask for help about how to use Paul or LIJI's level editors and tools to do things or to request tutorials.

Example Q&A's:

"How do I open a .lvl file for editing?" - Download a level editor from this thread and make sure it supports the correct Oddworld game that you wish to edit.

Remember to get the latest version too (work your way from the back of the thread).

"How do I edit .CAM files?" - You can do this with Paul's Level Editor 0.6, which you can get from the .lvl files thread or by using the link below. Remember to check for any later versions!

REMEMBER TO STATE WHAT EDITOR/TOOL YOU ARE USING, IF ANY, OR IT WILL BE HARDER TO HELP YOU.

NEW!!!

Get all the recent editing tools with instructions here! - http://filesmelt.com/dl/Pauls_LVL_To...L_EDITION1.zip

I will probably update this with an FAQ and other small things as this progresses but for now just ask questions about how to use tools and editors for certain things and I can help you do this.

Scraby · #2 12-27-2010, 02:44 AM

i dont know how to move that floating mine,and how do you make a slig face a different location (like if he is originaly facing left,what to change to make em face right?) thanks in advance

Chubfish · #3 12-27-2010, 02:50 AM

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i dont know how to move that floating mine,and how do you make a slig face a different location (like if he is originaly facing left,what to change to make em face right?) thanks in advance

In Paul's Level Editor (only!), to make a Slig or any object change direction, edit the property that says "Start Direction":

When the value is 0, the Slig faces right.

When the value is 1, the Slig faces left.

As for your question on floating mines, I believe there are collision paths that the mine has to follow but I'm not too sure on how you make them follow the paths. Try looking at already existing floating mines on the Stockyards/other levels and copying them.

Scraby · #4 12-27-2010, 03:01 AM

thx chubfish

NovaMan · #5 12-27-2010, 03:12 AM

Is it possible to rotate electric walls and slam doors?
And how do i modulate the xy position on electric walls and slam doors?
The electric walls and slam doors should follow the collision path like flying sligs.

Scraby · #6 12-27-2010, 03:24 AM

i have a question how to place an object in to the background.like a small slig or a small mine

Chubfish · #7 12-27-2010, 03:42 AM

@Novaman - Not sure it's possible to rotate electric walls and slam doors. There exist other objects you can use that do the same thing as slam doors; you could always put a series of small sized electric walls instead of horizontal ones.

You can change the XY position of electric walls and slam doors in Paul's Level Editor or LIJI's level editor by just moving them or doing it manually.

Remember, the grid in which Abe moves works in spaces of 25 units horizontally along the X axis, so if it doesn't appear you should try making it a multiple of 25 (this is true for Exoddus at least and has helped it work for me).

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@Scraby - Find and copy the properties of another Slig/Mine found in the background and place it wherever you are trying to put a Slig/Mine in the background. That's what I've been doing, works well. Edit any other values afterwards. I think there is another way of doing this but it works well like this.

Placement of mines should be slightly in the collision path if you want it to look better, but you can just change it if it looks a bit off.

Scraby · #8 12-27-2010, 03:49 AM

thanks

Jango · #9 12-27-2010, 04:43 AM

This question probably has quite an obvious answer, but I'll ask anyway: Would it be possible to change the .lvl files in the PS1 version of Oddworld? Or is it not possible to access them?

Chubfish · #10 12-27-2010, 05:16 AM

@Jango - Yes it is possible to access them. You can use files extracted from the PS1 .lvl files on the PC too bizarrely, but it's not advised. I'm not sure if there is any proper way to level edit them either but a general answer to your question would be yes - expect it to be buggy/crashy.

Jango · #11 12-27-2010, 05:19 AM

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@Jango - Yes it is possible to access them. You can use files extracted from the PS1 .lvl files on the PC too bizarrely, but it's not advised. I'm not sure if there is any proper way to level edit them either but a general answer to your question would be yes.

Interesting.

I have a question regarding your variation Chubfish: How did you get the Slog and Scrab to work? Because from my experience, if you add objects at all in r1.lvl, it crashes as soon as you reach the screen that you added objects to. I can't see how you would've copy/pasted them either. Using Paul's v0.2 editor.

Chubfish · #12 12-27-2010, 05:30 AM

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I have a question regarding your variation Chubfish: How did you get the Slog and Scrab to work? Because from my experience, if you add objects at all in r1.lvl, it crashes as soon as you reach the screen that you added objects to. I can't see how you would've copy/pasted them either.

Read this carefully...

How the objects work:

I opened up two separate Paul's Level Editors, and added a Slog as a new object in one editor and copied the properties from e1.lvl Path 2 (?)'s Slog.

I then tweaked it so it behaved differently and reversed the direction of it.

For the Scrab, I did the same, except I copied properties from one of the Scrabs in the background screen of one of the Hubs in the Scrabanian Temple (d2.lvl) and gave it a higher delay before attacking using the properties, so you don't die as soon as you exit the door.

How the objects appear:

To make them appear, I extracted all the files from e1.lvl and r1.lvl using Paul's LVL Extractor. I put the two together, not replacing anything, and then rebuilt the .lvl file using Paul's LVL Builder. This helps because the .lvl file now contains all the files needed to make a scrab/slog appear and because I used the correct values for all their properties, nothing should really crash.

Sligwerkz · #13 12-29-2010, 02:43 PM

Hey Chubfish, i'm pretty new to the oddworld level editing scene, and since you made a tut for LIJI's editor(which is still confusing for me), why don't you do one for Paul's editor? Also i've played your Rupture Farms variation and i gotta say its awesome!

Chubfish · #14 12-30-2010, 01:39 AM

I will try to make a tutorial for Paul's Level Editor when I have more free time. I'm so busy it's unbelievable. I might tweak the guide for LIJI's level editor too.

Sligwerkz · #15 12-30-2010, 11:44 AM

Alright cool, can't wait!

Havoc · #16 12-30-2010, 01:10 PM

Could someone open a dedicated topic for this that has everything like download links and a short manual in the opening post? It doesn't help anyone if there's 17 different topics on the same matter. This is a pretty awesome project though, I'd like to see what people can come up with. Does the editor work with the original game's objects and engine?

Chubfish · #17 12-30-2010, 02:36 PM

For now I wanted the threads to be more separate to get more information and to clutter less the other threads that were there, but I will probably draft something like what you said Havoc, just need some more time to do so and make more guides/manuals/tutorials/etc!

Paul's Editor works for Abe's Oddysee and Exoddus, and LIJI's also works for both too. The .lvl files thread in Oddworld Discussion is pretty useful!

Scraby · #18 01-08-2011, 01:16 PM

is it possible to slow down the trap doors? i wanted to make a insane trap lvl where there is no actual floor but random trap doors opening and closing

SligValet · #19 01-08-2011, 01:21 PM

AO: How do you place an UXB that starts off instead of on? (In Paul's Editor 0.2)

AO: Where is the line that tells a Slig to start off sleeping? - I had a look on the sleeping Slig in the first secret area of the first path of R1, it didn't help.

Also is there a newer version than 0.2? Because I have heard talk about a 0.5, 0.4 or 0.3.

Chubfish · #20 01-08-2011, 01:33 PM

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AO: How do you place an UXB that starts off instead of on? (In Paul's Editor 0.2)

AO: Where is the line that tells a Slig to start off sleeping? - I had a look on the sleeping Slig in the first secret area of the first path of R1, it didn't help.

Also is there a newer version than 0.2? Because I have heard talk about a 0.5, 0.4 or 0.3.

You can get all of Paul's Tools right here: http://filesmelt.com/dl/Pauls_LVL_Tools_ALL_EDITION.zip

Using it should also solve all your other problems too, because the latest version is 0.5 as of this post.

:

is it possible to slow down the trap doors? i wanted to make a insane trap lvl where there is no actual floor but random trap doors opening and closing

It is surely possible, but I'm not sure how to approach it...look at the very last secret on RuptureFarms, and also you could use invisible switches to change how the trap doors open at certain points I believe but that's up to you!

PM what you have, if anything, I'd love to look at it.

SligValet · #21 01-08-2011, 01:34 PM

:

You can get all of Paul's Tools right here: http://filesmelt.com/dl/Pauls_LVL_Tools_ALL_EDITION.zip

Using it should also solve all your other problems too, because the latest version is 0.5 as of this post.

Many thanks!

Jango · #22 01-08-2011, 01:38 PM

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AO: How do you place an UXB that starts off instead of on? (In Paul's Editor 0.2)

If you play around with the properties of the UXB (in v0.5), you can change the rhythm of red/green.

SligValet · #23 01-08-2011, 01:44 PM

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If you play around with the properties of the UXB (in v0.5), you can change the rhythm of red/green.

Just tried 0.5. What about the "State" variable? Does that relate to it being on or off? It seems to normally be on 0 when you just place one.

Jango · #24 01-08-2011, 01:50 PM

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Just tried 0.5. What about the "State" variable? Does that relate to it being on or off? It seems to normally be on 0 when you just place one.

The 'Pattern' and 'Num. patterns' variables just relate the red/green rhythm. If you change the 'state' to 1 however, then it will start OFF.

SligValet · #25 01-08-2011, 01:52 PM

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The 'Pattern' and 'Num. patterns' variables just relate the red/green rhythm. If you change the 'state' to 1 however, then it will start OFF.

Thanks! Just what I was looking for

Chubfish · #26 01-09-2011, 11:50 AM

Updated link to download all the tools in the first post. It is now up to date with the current version of Paul's Level Editor (that is, 0.6).

FractalXX · #27 02-05-2011, 07:00 AM

I'm making my first post on this forum, so Hello.
Is it possible to change the MUSIC of the levels (for AO)? If so, how? And, how to edit sounds.dat? I want to edit the gamespeak, too.

NovaMan · #28 02-05-2011, 08:20 AM

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Is it possible to change the MUSIC of the levels?

Have you tried seq2mid for extracting musics into midi? and awave(not free) for manipulating seq files from midi files? The BSQ file is just a bunch of seq files!

Chubfish · #29 02-05-2011, 10:13 AM

I don't specifically know this myself, but I know there is a way of opening sounds.dat in Audacity.

Currently, there is no way of actually editing how music works in either AO or AE (which is done by an arrangement of audio samples). I believe it is something to do with what novaman said.

You could, however, edit sounds.dat in Audacity and replace the GameSpeak sounds. This is probably possible, but again I don't know much about it.

Check the "Fun with sounds.dat" thread out (this thread) as this has the most info.

FractalXX · #30 02-06-2011, 12:46 AM

Thank's i will check it out.